(46.Camps are either temporary. that is changed from day to day, or they are permanent and may be visited year after year. or they may be used for a few weeks at a time.) Temporary camps are the ones we are considering, and these can be elaborate or very, very simple. I prefer the latter, and I am sure the boys will agree with me.
(47. During the autumn and when the weather is dry and the nights not too cool, the best way to camp is in the open. sleeping on beds of boughs, about a roaring fire. and with one blanket under and another over.)
Small dog tents, like the ones our soldiers carried in the Civil War, are cheap and very convenient. Each man carried a section, and two made a tent, into which two men crawled when it rained, but in dry weather they preferred to sleep in the open, even when it was freezing.
(48.Shelters of boughs. arranged in an A-framed fashion from a ridge pole make good temporary shelters and are first rate as windbreaks at night.)
A shack built of crossed logs requires some time to build and some skill to make, but it is not beyond the reach of any boy who has seen - and who has not - an old-fashioned log shanty.But all boys, even trained foresters, are apt to get lost in strange woods. Every one, however, should know what to do in such a circumstance. As a rule the denser growth of moss on trees is on the north side. This knowledge may help find the direction, but it is better to carry a small pocket compass.
(49.When the sky is clear. the sun and the stars help to guide the course and if they are followed one is saved from traveling in a circle, as the lost are pretty sure to do in a dense forest .)
(50. If twigs are broken from bushes they will serve to show the course to nose out searching, A good plan is to follow down the course of a stream which always flows into a larger body of water and will lead to some abode.) If a hill is accessible, the lay of the land may be had from its summit.
In any event, should you be lost, do not get ratted. You will be missed in camp and a search will be made by your friends. If you have to stay in the woods all night, make the best of it. Others have made the best of it by sleeping near the foot of a tree or beside a log. It will be more cheery if you can make a fire without anger to the woods.